UMPC

Toshiba has gone with the adage that two screens are better than one with its new libretto W100 ultra mobile PC (UMPC). Featuring dual 7-inch diagonal dual-touch LCD screens, the clamshell form factor W100 opens up to provide the equivalent of a 10-inch wide screen display that allows the desktop to be extended over both screens, different applications to be displayed on either screen, or one screen to be used for the virtual keyboard. The device can also be used as a netbook in the horizontal orientation, or flipped on its side for reading ebooks.
Read More

According to new data released by ABI Research, sales of UMDs (ultra-mobile devices) which reached just 10 million units in 2008 are tipped to exceed 200 million in 2013. With most major manufacturers having now entered the UMD consumer arena, this “new” category of portable computing is shaping up to be a significant market.
Read More

March 8, 2007 Paul G. Allen’s FlipStart Labs has taken a while in bringing its first product to market but the highly-anticipated FlipStart will ship to customers before the end of the month. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates and since bowing out of Microsoft he has shown a keen eye for investing in key technologies before their time. He is now one of the world's richest men and the Flipstart is one of his passions – it’s based on the premise that mobile professionals have too many devices and need full functionality in one pocket-sized device. "I've always been captivated with problems that really need solving,” says Allen. “What should exist and how we could create a solution. Years ago, I began to imagine a super compact computer that would allow us to connect, communicate, work and relax, no matter where we are. One that is intrinsically intuitive to use. FlipStart is the first commercial product to meet that vision; it simply works as expected."
Read More

January 11, 2007 An interesting new communications device debuted at the 2007 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, this week. The US$1400 S-XGen from Seamless Internet is an Ultra Mobile Portable Computer (UMPC) integrating all of the computing and digital functionality of other UMPC's in a design that offers a near full-size keyboard and an ultra-productive eight-hour battery life. Created for serious business users, the S-XGen combines several digital products into a single, easy-to-access device. The unit's extra long battery life and fold-out keyboard makes the S-XGen a serious full-day work partner that puts an end to frustrating text messaging-style 'dumb thumb' typing and 'low battery' AC-power searches.
Read More

January 9, 2007 Bill Gates yesterday showcased OQO’s next generation ultra-mobile PC, the model 02, in his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Weighing a mere one pound and small enough to fit in a pocket, the model 02 is the world’s smallest Windows Vista capable computer and not only have the company fixed every shortcoming of the first model, the model 02 is up to four times faster and has a display more than six times brighter than its groundbreaking predecessor. Redesigned from the ground up, the model 02 features a new ergonomic backlit keyboard and capacitive TouchScrollers for easy input and navigation. The model 02 incorporates complete wireless connectivity – including EV-DO Wireless WAN, WiFi, and Bluetooth – ensuring the user has high speed and uncompromised access to the internet, email, and networked applications. Expected to ship before the end of March, the OQO model 02 will sell for US$1500.
Read More

Updated October 2, 2006 The prospects of one day having our computers all able to withstand the hostile environment that is the real world moved a step closer this week when rugged electronic systems specialist Black Diamond Advanced Technology announced the SwitchBack PC , the world's first rugged UMPC (Ultra Mobile Personal Computer). The SwitchBack made its debut at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston this week and utilizes a 1.0 GHz Intel Celeron M processor, 1GB of 400 MHz DDR2 and can run Windows XP, CE, Mobile or Linux, packing the power of a desktop PC in a lightweight, handheld rugged form factor. The SwitchBack has all the features of today's rugged handheld tablet PCs, but it's smaller, more powerful and it has another significant differentiator ... a detachable/attachable Module on the back which can be used to extend functionality by adding additional hardware, devices or connector interfaces. Examples of modules that can be added include an additional processor, hard drive or battery, custom I/O options (data transfer, interface extensions), a fingerprint reader, an RFID, Barcode Scanner or Mag Stripe Reader, terrestrial radio(s), digital camera, GPS receiver, breathalyser and a Laser Range Finder.
Read More

The recent announcements of the OQO and Flipstart ultra compact PCs saw the beginning of an entirely new market for fully functional PCs with PDA form factors. Both have been sighted at major trade shows, and Gizmo’s Dave Weinstein has even visited OQO, but neither machine has yet been sold across the counter. Then Sony quietly gazumped both of them by releasing an equally small, equally capable handheld onto the Japanese market, then putting functioning versions in the hands of the technology press during the global Vaio roadshow which has taken in every major IT-purchasing nation on the planet. Sony never gives a whiff of vapourware and the entry of such a major player into this market must surely give it some serious momentum
Read More